Late September 1998 Story

[Referee's Note: Since it wasn't officially declared how much of Zane's medkit supplies were used on the Lost Point victims, I am assuming that--with the exception of Telol--half of it (rounded up) has been exhausted. This leaves him with 5 Antibody, 4 Antitox, 7 Biocort, 4 Omnimycin, 5 Staydose, 5 Stimdose and 10 Telol. In addition, Urugg has 5 Antibody, 2 Antitox, 1 Biocort, 1 Omnimycin, 2 Staydose, 5 Stimdose and 2 Telol. Don't get nervous because I'm talking so much about medical supplies. Let's just move ahead and see what happens to those characters!]

[Monorail Tunnel, 30 minutes south of First Landing terminal (by foot)]

"Hey!" The Lost Point soldier's wrist blade gashes into Tork's spacesuit, knocking the Yazirian back in surprise, but harming little more than the spacesuit.

[Roll for surprise. Urugg INTUITION: 86; Rolled: 18]

Urugg's attention snaps from possible robots or boobytraps ahead to the armored men around him. Five against nine! Doesn't look good. Urugg alerts the team to a combat stance, fearing treachery--but hoping he's wrong.

"I--I can't stop it!" says the Lost Point soldier who attacked, but his voice is drowned in the battle cries and attacks of Tork and the rest of the party!

[Roll for initiative. Syzygy: 8 (IM) + 4 (1d10) = 12. Lost Point soldiers: 7 (IM) + 9 (1d10) = 16!]

Despite the team's readiness, it is the armored Lost Point men who manage to attack first.

[Kare INTUITION: 55; Rolled: 37]

Kare notices, almost in the back of her mind, that the Lost Point armor suits are not turning invisible. She remembers that the Lost Point soldiers have always become visible right before an attack. Perhaps the enhanced holo screens interfere with the armor's vision sensors, making combat difficult--or perhaps they require too much power drain during battle.

Soldier 1 barrels into the fallen Tork, ramming his wrist blade into Tork's abdomen with evil precision. [Tork takes 18 points damage, but his skeinsuit absorbs 9 of that. His Current Stamina is knocked from 62 to 53, and his skeinsuit has 41 points left.]

Soldier 2 swings at Zane with a bladed arm, but apparently Zane's martial arts training pays off. Zane successfully crouches underneath the attack.

Soldier 3 makes a wide swipe at Zane's side, but in the confusion of the fray, Zane is able to sidestep, missing the blow by a fraction of a centimeter.

Soldier 4 turns to Syzygy, lunging forward with two bladed fists curling up towards the Vrusk's lower thorax. Syzygy sees the attack ahead of time, and manages to move safely to the soldier's side while the blades meet only thin air.

Syzygy's luck can only last so long, however, as he is cruely met with soldier 5's blade, which jabs into his side ribs. [Syzygy takes a whopping 23 points of damage! His current Stamina plummets from 43 to 32, and his skeinsuit--which only had 18 points--barely holds together with but 6 points of protection remaining.]

Soldier 6 punches at Zane from behind. Zane doesn't even see it coming, but by some miracle the blade whistles past his helmet and collides with soldier 2's shoulder plate. [97 rolled: bad break] The misguided blade lodges firmly into soldier 2's armor, and both soldiers struggle to free themselves.

Soldier 7 aims for Urugg, stabbing his shoulder in a spray of blood. [Urugg is dealt 19 points of damage, bringing his skeinsuit from 46 to 36 and his Current Stamina from 40 to 31.]

Soldier 8 leaps for Urugg as well, but his attack is set off balance by solider 7's strike. Soldier 8's hungry blade glances harmlessly off Urugg's spacesuit material.

Soldier 9's blade pierce's Kare's spacesuit, just under the helmet, and punctures her neck--millimeters from the jugular! [Kare takes 22 points of damage, taking her skeinsuit from 42 to 31 and her Current Stamina from 65 to 54.]

[Tork Battle Rage: 9%; Rolled: 18]

With cat-like reflexes Tork rolls to a kneeling position and draws his knife. Issuing an ear piercing battle cry he throws himself at his attacker.

[Tork Chance to Hit: 33 (M) + 20 (skill x 10) + 5 (knife modifier) = 58%; Rolled: 19. Damage: 4 (PS) + 3 (1d10) = 7]

The knife wedges in between the shoulder and neck plates of his assailant. The blade is significantly slowed by the soldier's armor, but there is a satisfying trickle of blood nonetheless. "I can't hold these guys for long," screams the Yazirian to his comrades. "Either come up with a plan now, or RUN!"

Zane, seeing that soldiers 2 and 6 are momentarily detained, pulls out his gyrojet pistol and fires at soldier 3's chassis. He admits to himself that gyrojet ammunition is less effective at such close range, but he might at least be able to slow some of these monsters down.

[Zane Chance to Hit: 30 (RW) + 10 (skill x 10) - 10 (Short range for gyrojet) = 30%; Rolled: 96 (bad break), 32, 68]

It is just impossible to get a good shot in such a confused melee. The second and third shots splatter sticky webbing on the transparent tunnel walls. It is the first shot that worries him most. Somehow the aim was spoiled, and it is Tork, not the soldier, that gets hit by the tangler round!

[Tork REACTION SPEED: 65; Rolled: 13]

Tork manages to spread his arms and twist, successfully maneuvering to prevent the adhesive threads from imprisoning him. "Watch it!" growls the Yazirian, who is visibly losing his temper.

Urugg glances up and sees a number of steel rails running the length of the tunnel--the ideas safe spot for dropping smoke and tangler grenades. Urugg takes advantage of the low gravity, leaping into the face of soldier 8 and rebounding for the overhead rails.

[Urugg DEXTERITY: 72; Rolled: 76]

The fingers of Urugg's magnetic gloves come within a centimeter of the nearest rail. But it is not enough. He lands on his feet, but his failed jump has cost him precious time.

"This isn't going to work!" cries Syzygy. "With their armor and super-strength, there's no way we can take them in a fair fight!"

Kare joins the Vrusk's side. "This armor has to have some weak spot! If only we could find it in time."

Syzygy take Kare's cue and attempts to grapple onto the back of soldier 4, searching for an access panel or anything else of use.

[Syzygy Grappling: 38 (M) = 38%; Rolled: 75]

Soldier 4 twists, knocking Syzygy off with an armored elbow. Undaunted, Syzygy studies the back of the armor he failed to get a hold of.

[Syzygy INTUITION: 70; Rolled: 67]

"Some of those components look robotic," says the Vrusk from the floor. "We might be able to deactivate them like robots!"

"Dammit!" complains Tork. "Fine time to be without our robotics expert! Kare, see what you can do!"

Kare drops a grenade at her feet, and is soon consumed in a cloud a gray smoke. It's a gamble. She knows that both sides are wearing environment suits, and won't be bothered by the grenade's tear gas effects. The members of her team without infra-red goggles won't be able to see, but if the inviso-goons don't have IR sensors, their vision may be obstructed as well.

When she draws her weapon, it is not a knife or pistol, but the electrodrive from her techkit.

[Kare Grappling: 35 (M) = 35%; Rolled: 94]

Kare is knocked back as she attempts to grab onto soldier 9. She grunts with pain. "We've got to get our hands on one of these contraptions!"

The armored men are visibly bothered by the smoke as they grope about for their next attacks. It looks like the gamble paid off!

Soldier 1 viciously strikes at Tork. The soldier surely would have done a lot of damage had his punch been aimed in the right direction.

Soldiers 2 and 6 tug at the blade that locks them together, but they are unable to free it.

Soldier 3 lashes out at Zane's last known position. But the soldier aims for the chest level, and Zane is already on the ground.

Soldier 4 spins about, searching for Syzygy. . .searching but not finding.

Soldier 5 seems just as lost as soldier 4.

Soldier 7 rushes full speed at Urugg, and Urugg, not having infra-red goggles, dodges blindly. The two bump into each other, and it is only by simple luck that Urugg escapes the soldier's blade.

Soldier 9 strikes at Kare but doesn't even come close.

Soldier 8 makes no attempt to attack. But he doesn't need to.

Kare, Syzygy, Tork and Zane watch in horror as all nine soldiers fade from their infra-red view.

The Lost Point soldiers have figured out how to even the odds.

There is silence for a moment, as all forces spread out. Now, no one can see anyone.

Syzygy pulls out his gyrojet pistol with barium paint rounds, but he doesn't know where to shoot.

A voice breaks the silence. It is one of the Lost Point soldiers. "You've got to help us! We can't control the suits."

Syzygy fires in the direction of the voice.

[Syzygy Chance to Hit: 38 (RW) + 20 (skill x 10) - 10 (Short range) - 40 (firing blind) + 20 (hears voice) = 28%; Rolled: 68, 87, 71]

The shots miss, and Syzygy quickly steps to the side, to avoid giving away his position.

"Please, stop shooting!" says another voice.

Syzygy turns and fires.

[Syzygy Chance to Hit: 38 (RW) + 20 (skill x 10) - 10 (Short range) - 40 (firing blind) + 20 (hears voice) = 28%; Rolled: 05]

"Urugg, Tork, I think I got him. Can you pick up his position with your vaporscanners?"

[Urugg Tracking: 30 (base) + 30 (skill x 10) = 60%; Rolled: 63]

[Tork Tracking: 30 (base) + 10 (skill x 10) = 40%; Rolled: 39]

Tork pulls out his envirokit tool and creeps up onto the barium source he is picking up.

[Tork Grappling: 33 (M) + 20 (martial arts skill x 10) = 53%; Rolled: 41]

Tork clings to the soldier's back and pulls back his arms. The strength of the armored soldier is UNBELIEVABLE! "I've got him, but I can't hold him!" exclaims Tork.

Team members and armored soldiers alike converge on Tork's voice, joining in the struggle.

[Kare Sabotaging Machinery: 40 (base) + 60 (skill x 10) - 40 (can't see armor) = 60%; Rolled: 02!]

Dozens of fists and feet--some of them invisible--intermix in Tork's wrestling match. Armored hands grab hold of Tork's head, and with monster strength attempt to twist it off. The soldier Tork was holding breaks free in an unprecedented burst of strength, and casts everyone--team members and soldiers alike--flying in every direction.

There is silence again.

And in the middle of the crowd, a single armored figure rematerializes. But in the heavy black smoke, only Kare, Syzygy, Tork and Zane can see it. The soldier raises his arms, which open vents that blast the smoke to the sides. Soon there is little more than a light haze in the air.

Kare, Syzygy, Tork, Zane and now Urugg stare at the man in armor, unsure what to do next.

The man turns, seeing something the others cannot see. He sidesteps, avoiding some invisible danger, and grabs an invisible object--sending it flying with a loud crunch into a very visible wall.

The man turns again, bodyslamming an invisible opponent and pinning it to the ground.

A second armored soldier phases into visibility, being crushed under the first. "Quick," says the soldier on top. "Do to him what you did to me!"

Kare runs up to the soldier on the ground and uses her tool to pry open a 3 cm x 3 cm panel on the side of the soldier's neck. With lightning speed, she rips out a circuit, and the soldier goes limp.

"What is that?" demands Syzygy as he, Urugg, Tork and Zane congregate to the space occupied by Kare and the two visible soldiers.

"You got me thinking when you said these components on the suits look robotic," explains Kare. "Most robots that are controlled remotely do so via tight-beam long range communication. If these suits were controlling these men, then I figured there must be a tight-beam communicator unit maintaining the control link."

The two soldiers stand defensively around Kare, Syzygy and the rest.

"It's not over yet," says the first soldier. "There are still seven more of us being controlled. You can't see them, but we can. Fortunately for us, the vision in these suits is greatly impaired when we go to invisible mode. The others will either have to make themselves visible or suffer a severe disadvantage in combat."

In unison, the seven other soldiers materialize. Apparently they would rather take their chances being seen than enter battle half-blind.

Syzygy pulls out his techkit. "If the rest of you can immobilize these guys, Kare and I will neutralize their communicators."

Tork starts to grin. "Seven against seven. That sounds more like a fair fight!"

[First Landing Monorail Station, I15 on First Landing Upper Level]

T'Klkk watches on the viewscreen as Urugg, Zane and two soldiers pin another armored soldier to the ground. Tork, with the help of three more soldiers, immobilizes another armored opponent. Kare and Syzygy quickly remove the communication circuits in the captured men's suits, and the battle is won.

"We have hindered you enough," says one of the men in armor. "We are in control now, but who knows what else the Lord of Shadows can do to us? We shall return to the safety of Lost Point and destroy these suits. Good luck, my friends."

T'Klkk lifts her chronocom and hails all of the audio-only radio communicators, including Taanik's.

"T'Klkk, where are you?" asks Tork through his communicator.

"At the monorail station. It is Dakka Syte, our employer, who took control of those armor suits. He has enslaved all of First Landing, and all robots must be considered hostile. Mr. Syte has managed to gain control of all the city's automated systems from his office. We are under surveillance at all times. If self-T'Klkk were a Dralasite, she would stay hidden in her shell." She hopes that Taanik understood the last part of her message as a warning not to leave the robot that id and Selson were hiding in. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have my own duties to attend to. Out."

Having closed the communication, she cannot here the protests of Tork, Syzygy and the others.

But it is T'Klkk's hope that she can somehow reach Dakka Syte's office while the game is still young.

Two anthropomorphic security robots try to block T'Klkk as she heads for the north-going moving walkway.

"Halt!" orders one of the robots. "You are not to proceed."

T'Klkk pauses and examines the two metallic bipeds. With a sudden move she raises her automatic pistol and plasters the robot on the right with a spray of bullets.

[T'Klkk Chance to Hit: 41 (RW) + 40 (skill x 10) + 20 (firing burst) = 95%; Rolled: 92. 5d10 Damage: 35]

The android is knocked back a step from the blast, giving T'Klkk the delay she needs. Dodging the left robot's lunge, she runs to the right, leaping onto the east-going walkway.

She looks back over her shoulder. At a full sprint, she is barely able to outrun the androids.

But then she turns back to the direction she is heading and sees two more security robots, and behind them another six! T'Klkk looks back to see that the original two robots that were chasing her are being followed by four more.

T'Klkk checks her pistol. The current clip has only 1 bullet left, so she discards it-- loading a fresh cartridge of 20 bullets. T'Klkk calculates her situation. It won't be enough.

With no other option, she climbs atop a bench on the moving strip and leaps for the overhead ramps used by law enforcement hovercycles.

[T'Klkk STRENGTH: 50; Rolled: 19]

In a quick swoop, she lifts all eight legs onto the ramp.

Then she looks ahead.

Three robots on hovercycles coming straight at her.

She looks behind.

Three more.

She looks below.

At least twenty security robots have made it to the scene, and more are on their way.

A security robot pulls up onto the ramp's side and clutches T'Klkk's ankle with its metallic hand. An electric shock jerks the Vrusk's limbs in every direction, and her pistol tumbles--as if in slow motion--to the walkstrip below.

Over forty security robots are on hand by the time T'Klkk's limp form is carried away.

Her thoughts swim in a daze. It was almost funny. She had hoped to make it to Syte's office, but couldn't even get past the monorail station.

[Recreation Area, M9 on First Landing Underground Level]

"Don't come out of the shell," says Taanik to Selson. "T'Klkk was telling us not to get out of this robot. Perhaps that means that Syte hasn't found us yet."

"When he does, he'll kill us," says Selson. "He doesn't care."

"Well, Streel," resumes Taanik. "I guess I have to trust you now. You know this city better than anyone else. Do you think you can get us to the Computer Spire?"

"When I studied the blueprints of this place, I only had one objective in mind," says Selson Streel. "And that was stopping the imposter. I found a way into his office, but I'm not sure how we could get into the Spire."

"Okay, forget that then. We'll go back to the mining robot entrance. From there we'll see what we can do about disrupting the flow of materials or maybe altering the missions of some of the robots. In the meantime, we'll keep our radio communicator in receive mode, in case the team wants to contact us."

Taanik begins accessing the robot's controls from the inside.

"That's interesting," says Taanik.

There is a long silence, and Selson has to nudge Taanik for him to go on.

"Our robot is receiving a number of messages that are being broadcast to all the robots in the city. There's a general emergency message saying that T'Klkk is trying to escape arrest. She's being monitored in the airtube just east of the monorail terminal, and all of the security robots in that vicinity are being called in to apprehend her."

Selson shakes his head in the cramped darkness inside the robot. "There's nothing we can do for her."

Taanik stops and listens, his expression dropping away to a look of resignation. "She's been captured."

"I told you there was nothing you could do for her."

"I don't know. If the robots carry her to Dakka Syte, I don't think he's going to let her live. You saw what he did to Fle'xx."

"Do you know where she is?"

"Yes. 152 meters east of the monorail terminal's east airlock. It's in the general transmission. And. . .what's this?"

There is another pause as Taanik studies a broadcast his robot is receiving.

"Oh no," says Taanik. "The rest of the team has been located in the monorail tunnel, and a team of security robots is being dispatched right now. I've got to warn them."

"No," says Selson, clutching Taanik's hand. "You might give away our position if you use your radio. We can't be of any use to your friends if we're captured as well. Your friends are smart. They'll figure out that they're being tracked down."

Taanik is very reluctant, but is forced to agree with Selson's logic.

"Very well," says the Dralasite after painful deliberation. "I sure hope they're going to be all right."

[Monorail Tunnel, 30 minutes south of First Landing terminal (by foot)]

Tork grits his fangs in frustration. "T'Klkk's not responding."

Of the group, Syzygy is most grim. "She shouldn't have gone off alone. She could be in very serious danger."

"We're all in danger," says Urugg. "Unless we can find a way to stop Dakka Syte."

"Agreed," says Tork. "If our every move is being monitored, Dakka probably has an army of robots headed our way as we speak! It's been a long time since I've felt this much aggression for someone. I'd like to rip this guy's head off and spit down the hole!"

Kare shakes her head. "That's going to be hard if he's in control of the whole city. The last I counted there were over 800,000 robots in First Landing--not to mention everything else he can control: doors, machinery, environmental systems. . ."

Zane, who is busy administering first aid to everyone, looks up. [10 Current Stamina points are restored to Kare, Syzygy, Tork and Urugg. Four doses of biocort are used up.] "Kare, are the robots in First Landing controlled by the same tight-beam communicators the Lost Point men had in their suits."

"I've never examined the robots here in that much detail," says Kare. "But I'd say it's likely."

"I agree," says Syzygy. "The key factor to First Landing is its unity. That means everything is coordinated and controlled from a central location. The robots can't constantly be wired to computer terminals, so they probably talk to the main computer through a remote link."

"Right," says Zane. "Is there any way we could cut off that link?"

Syzygy frowns. "Well, I'm not sure where the signals are generated from--if there's even a singular location. There's no way we could rip the communicator unit out of each of 800,000 robots."

"And the signals are too strong to jam," adds Kare. "At least with anything we've got. To block all the radio signals in an area as big as First Landing would require nothing less than a wide area White Noise Broadcaster."

"And I'm guessing we don't have one of those," suggests Zane.

Kare laughs. "About the only place you're going to find something as large as a WNB is on a. . ." The woman's voice trails off, as if in stupor.

"On a what?" demands Zane.

Kare speaks slowly, her eyes staring into nothingness. "On a starship. Like an assault scout. I saw one with Streel markings when I was at the First Landing starport just the other day. And with the shady business the Streel Corporation always has its nose in, a WNB is just the type of equipment they'd outfit one of their assault scouts with."

"Would that disable the robots?" asks Urugg.

"No," replies Kare. "Most of them are programmed to perform tasks, and those tasks would continue uninterrupted."

Tork lets out a gruff gust of breath. "So if Syte has sent a fleet of warbots out with seek and destroy objectives, they'll keep coming."

"Yes," says Kare. "But they wouldn't be able to communicate any more. It would cut off their ability to receive new objectives, or to share information. That's assuming bug-face here can hack into the city's computer and do something about the holo communication network as well."

Urugg nods slowly. "It seems to me that the biggest advantage of Syte's forces is the coordination of every unit. As soon as one robot or camera sees something, everybody sees it. If we could break that unity, it might be the key to getting an upper hand."

Syzygy looks down the monorail tunnel towards First Landing. "Well, if I'm going to neutralize the holo communication system, I'm going to need access to First Landing's computer network. Which means that somehow, I need to get into the city."

Tork, who has just finished patching the gash in his spacesuit, notices some glimmers of metal coming down the tunnel. "If I'm not mistaken, there's a welcoming party on its way right now. If we're going to come up with a plan, I suggest we do it quickly!"